Agricultural growing operations require large amounts of water to grow and harvest crops. This water comes from natural rainfall and from irrigation. The water provided from rainfall and irrigation generally soaks into the soil where crops are grown. However, after being soaked into the soil, the water continues to seep down and away from the surface. After time, the water seeps to a level deep enough such that the roots of plants cannot gain access to the water. Once water seeps below a useful level, farmers are left with little choice but to re-water the land or wait for more rain. Throughout the course of a farming season, the repetitive re-watering contributes to substantial water waste.
Soil additives can be used in effort to alleviate the water seepage problem. These additives are typically made of plastics or plastic-type materials. However, these soil additives are subject to challenges with respect to use on a large scale in mass agricultural growing operations. The presently available plastic soil additives are expensive to purchase, expensive to transport, and time-consuming to place.